May 27, 2008

Homeygrown on Fashion Tribes

At the Maker Faire earlier this month, someone from Fashiontribes.com wrote a little blurb about the Swap-o-Rama-Rama fashion show. The short article features Bianca in her sailor moon inspired fit.


Check it out here!
According to Bianca, she told them she'd only pose for the camera if they gave a shout out to homeygrown. And just by looking at the picture, they didn't even give her a chance to pose!!

May 18, 2008

Makin' Fashion Happen at Maker Faire

One of the best parts of the Swap-o-Rama-Rama at Maker Faire is the fashion show.


It's so fun gathering a group of homies who love to show off homeygrown gear!

We hate being part of a boring, cookie-cutter show, and by far, this show every year just gets more and more entertaining. The models are fun and fabulous, and the other designers always have such amazing recycling techniques. As Homeygrown's outfits blend the old with the new (how our daily fashion often looks like), we hope other folks who strictly buy brand new will adopt the recycled, one-of-a-kind, DIY philosophy....even if it's one just item of clothing.



We invited super cool photograher Amber Wolf, aka Chipmonkey, to take photos of anything and everything....and here's how she saw homeygrown's fashions that day!

Click below see more fashion photos from Swap-o-Rama-Rama Fashion Show!



Lookin' this good takes just a few minutes of gettin' ready:


First, Smurf paints her lips....red.


Then, like a good wifey, she helps hubby put his robe on.


Be careful with those pins!


In all the huge mess around us, we manage to find a fork to comb Jada's hair.


She hated her fork-combed bangs! (but just for the first 10 minutes)

Before the fashion show, we rounded up all of our models for a photo shoot.





On Bianca:
- Halter top: an old lady sailor dress turned golden with buzzard print and upholstery trim- by Artiffact
- Apron: a vintage blouse turned housewife with sewing heart print- by Rockill
- Gloves: vintage Artiffact
- Skirt: Urban Outfitters (model's)
- Shoes: Converse (model's)







On Brian:
- Jacket: Pizza Hut delivery uniform with zebra buzzard print patch, Philippine eagle and wave printed on back- by Artiffact & Stormz
- T-shirt: white-v-neck- (model's)
- Jeans: (model's)
- Shoes: purple satin Vans (model's)
- Hat- Huf (model's)



On Jada:
- Top: old white girly tee with printed hearts- by Artiffact
- Skirt: cheetahlicious dress scraps- by Artiffact
- Scarf- vintage Artiffact
- Leggings- Justice (model's)







On Miss Mai:
- Top: grandma's sweater turned sexy 20 minutes before the fashion show- by Artiffact
- Pencil skirt: other half of old lady sailor dress with upholstery suspenders- by Artiffact
- Gloves- vintage Ariffact
-
Garter- scrap lace and trim - by Rockill
- Shoes- (model's)
- lace scarf- (model's)





On Melissa:
- Halter top: old lady sailor dress with printed hearts- by Artiffact
- Apron: remnant cheetah fabric with scrap lace and printed Rockill butterfly- by Rockill
- Garters: scrap lace and shoelaces- by Rockill
- Skirt: thrifted by Artiffact
- shoes: thrifted by Rockill
- Gloves: vintage Artiffact







On Crystal:
- Top: great-aunt's cruise top turned tunic with rainbow hoodie & sailor bow- by Artiffact
- Armwarmers: left-over sleeves, flipped around- by Artiffact



On Smurf:
- Full Apron: vintage fabric old enough to be your grandma- by Rockill
- Hat: scraps of grandma fabric- by Rockill
- Gloves: $1 + lace scraps





On Mick (aka Bif):
- Robe: old cuddly thing with enough ties for a conference- by Artiffact
- Slippers: someone's grandma's cozies- by Mick


pep talk


another model just rollin' by...

Next up are photos from the actual fashion show. We rarely get to see things from this point of view....we're always behind the scenes....thanks Amber!

First was Jada, third year fashion show veteran....doin' her dance.










Crystal modeled TWICE in the show!


A happy family with their trashling baby!
















Amber took so many more photos that day, we'll be sure to post photos of the actual swap.

We're also selling some of our wears from the fashion show, check out our etsies:
Artiffact
Rockill
Homeygrown

May 7, 2008

New members of the Trashling Family


Oh No!!! A messy craft table! This can only mean that TRASHLINGS have invaded the Swap-O-Rama-Rama at the Maker Faire. Have no fear, Trashlings are kind creatures from Planet Basura. With the help of human creativity, Trashlings turn recycled old scraps and such into cuddly things!

Click to see the new Trashlings who were born this year....



Much creativity goes into creating a Trashling, from Earthlings of all ages.


The first Trashling of the weekend, created by Jada. Check out the velcro jean pocket and the plastic arms!


He wanted to make an octopus, but it morphed into a happy jellyfish!


I believe this Trashling used to be old pajama pants.


She used the same pants for her Trashling too!


With their mama's help, Fuzzy and friend were created!


After she sewed a lil somethin' for herself, she couldn't resist on creating Garbo!


These doll heads were quite popular, and they went rather quickly! Someone even stole one off of Jada's Trashling! More on that later.... Anyways, this dude and his Trashling were so cool! Mee


her little guy is a puppet where her cute little hand can fit through. Note the dangling earring, that's one of Rockill's old creations!


Meet Marabella.

These two made a matching Trashling, Pill-ho, to go along with their homey's design (see her shirt? Rockill helped her turn a boxy man's shirt to something fit and femme.)


Although it would have been nice, Homeygrown didn't exactly make Trashlings all day long.


We managed to squeeze some time in for a few personal projects....and hop on the sewing machines in between peoples! And of course, we gotta help folks out with fashion!


This was one of the first projects to come to our table, and it happened to be an old pair or PJ pants from Artiffact! This sweetie wanted to make something special for her dad....awwww...
This family is way kind....he accidentally took something from our pile of things, and they came back after the swap was finished to return them to us! That's the kind of spirit that makes being at the Swap-O-Rama-Rama magical!


at 10 years old, this was her first attempt at sewing. she cut out a tiger from an old shirt and wanted to sew it onto this shirt she found and printed on. she became frustrated at all the curves of the patch, but she did great for her first time. her patience was well worth it...just look at her shirt! It was great to see her come back again for day two and sew some more!


So great to see Artiffact's can tab collection be put to use! After she made this at our station, I saw her carrying it while walking around. I totally wanted to take a photo, and after looking closer at the pants, I noticed that those were my old pair! It brings nostalgic feelings to see something that you brought being transformed into something new.




here's another one of Artiffact's swapped goodies. I got this "Mountain Brothers" t-shirt way back in '98 when i signed up to be part of their street team, called the "Urban Nut Squad". They mailed me this t-shirt and a HUGE box of promotional condoms...I was 16 at the time and my mom opened the box after it was delivered...she must have been surprised. After using this shirt for sleeping for many years, now it can be enjoyed as hand-sewn backpack art by someone who actually knows who the Mountain Brothers are! Way to know your hip hop!


our glue gun came in handy for this bunny.